Why do most people think it is only pit bulls that turn aggressive towards humans.?

Question

It is always targic when a dog of any breed huts or kills someone. If you listen to the media it seems to be only pit bulls. When my great nephew was attacked and had to have surgey to save his eye animal control did not even come out to takt a report because the dog was a lab, yes they said that. My pit bull barks at some one there here within a hour. Last year 4 deaths were chalk up to pit bulls two of which was by pit that are police dogs and saved thie partenr's life.There are over 5 million pit bulls in this country, by far more than any other breed. If they were as bad as they are made to look there would be a least 4 deaths a day. Last year 60 peopl died in dog attacks, 4 by pit bull that makes the odds of anyone getting killed by a pit is.00015. You are more likely to get shot by a loved one, struck by lighting, attacked by a gator, killed by a shark. You need to worry more about what some kid in your childs school is up to than a pit bull attacking them.

One of you said the pits in their area mustbemore aggersive. Well that may be we have troble with labs here, Las Vegas. There as been 15 Lab attacks in the past 6 months. I hate tto sat this but Las Veags as one of the largest dog fighting rings in the US. There as not been a bad attack by a pit in 15 years and no deaths for 30 years, that includs attacks on ohter dogs, expect in the ring. I think a genic qurak can happen in a population of dogs that can make one breed seem more aggervise than others, but when you look at the whole country you can see that it is not so. My neice's dog as K-9 rage, not sure if that is what its called and take the same meds as someone that is bi-poluor. Sorry about the spelling.
The guy who said you need to take steps to make sure your pit dose not get out or alone with ant kids is right. Always watch kids with any large dog. they are the same size and move like the prey they would hunt in the wild

Answer 1

Perhaps the lineage of pit bulls in our town is more aggressive than others? or not the norm? I was in the vet's office to have stitches removed the other day..and a call came in about a sick pit bull..the vet's assistant told the caller that the doctor doesn't accept pit bull clients...So, then the vet came out to look at my dog, and the assistant told him about the caller..He said, I would like to help all dogs, but if it hadn't been for my steel toed boots, I would have lost my foot to the last pit bull I tried to help..So, never again.
Then, they got to talking about the Chihuahuas that had come in earlier in the day...3 Chihuahua puppies had been in their own yard, playing with children, when a pit bull climbed the fence and killed one and injured the other 2 , one of them died at the vet's..the 3rd one was still in ICU.

I have several local friends who have been attacked by their own pit bulls...None of them were bad owners..but the dogs just 'snapped' and attacked...so, I wonder...Could it be that our pit bulls are just worse than those in other areas? This is a very nice resort community, and not a town of thugs.

Answer 2

BTW - where did you get your stats? Is that U.S.? I am always keeping track and I've never seen that 60 people died from dog bites - always around 12 per year. However - most of the dog bites reported are from Pits. 169 Pit bulls attacked humans in San Francisco alone. (non fatal)

I don't think it is only Pits that are aggressive, but the statistics show by far that Pits and Rotts are sending more people to the emergency room. Anytime a dog gains in popularity - the breed suffers from overbreeding and people looking to make a buck. They breed the dog w/out regard to the temperment and socialization of the puppies or the parents.

Plus - the other problem with pits - especially in areas known for fighting them - when the dog doesn't fight well - they are sometimes killed - and sometimes just turned loose. They don't want the expense of keeping a loser. These dangerous dogs are now roaming the streets - it wasn't someone's pet - but it is not helping the Pit bull name.

Answer 3

It's not that people think they are they only dog that can turn aggressive to humans. Obviously any animal is capable of that. They are animals. But the fact is when a pit bull turns, they murder or maim their victoms. Other dogs do not do that. And if they would it is an extremely rare case. It happens all the time with pits. 9 people have been killed by pit bulls this year. It's sick.

Answer 4

People do not think for them self's any more. They have gotten so lazy that they let others make up their minds. More people are attacked by so called family dogs than pits and related breeds. Any dog can attack, they are still wolfs under their skins. A 6lb dog can and as killed a baby. If people do not wake up they will lose their right to Even have dogs as pets. Remember the breed of dog you love and own is one bite away from being called dangerous and banded. WE, the people fighting the bans on pits know this. List of breeds they are banning besides pit bulls are, mastiffs, German Shepard, Dodie's, Akita's, huskies, hunting dog in city limits, Irsih wolf hound, just to name a few. Notice most are large dogs. Dose your family have a large dog if they do is yours the next on the chopping block.

Answer 5

Unfortunately, this is because pit bulls, as a breed, are agressive animals originally bred for fighting. Normally they are fine around people, depending on the environment they were raised in. There are only a couple of other breeds that were originally fighting dogs, and they are far less common the pit bulls. Some municipalities have actually outlawed the ownership of pitbulls, but those areas are centers for dogfights. They weren't outlawed due to the danger they pose.

Answer 6

Have to be honest with you. Most of The Pit bulls Ive known where often sketchy at best. They were a little hyper and when you played with them things got rough real fast as compared to other breeds Ive dealt with.

Truth is they have a specific demeanor just like any other full bred dog. Now don't get me wrong some individual dogs will step outside of their breeds demeanor but overall this personality type exists in full bred dogs.

I'm not saying there aren't Sweet pit-bulls out there because there are BUT the dog(pit bull) was bred to be aggressive and Ive personally witnessed more pit bulls turn on their masters then any other breed Ive ever seen. I know of 5 cases personally where pit bulls turned on their masters(my friends) and viciously attacked them and YES these people were NOT cruel masters.

Pit bulls were bred for a specific purpose just like Labs and German Shepard's have been. They all have unique personality traits according to breed. I know some of you guys don't want to face this but its the truth... more often then not.

Keep your Pit locked up properly! they WILL hurt someone out of the blue and that includes children or even yourself! They believe they are protecting their territory and pure bred Pits are HIGHLY territorial, trust me. Also the difference between a PIT bull and other breeds is when the other breeds let go(release the jaws) pit bulls don't... they keep on biting and hanging on Ive witnessed it many times. And yes there are exceptions to the rule however dont fool yourself or live in denial... your Pit will most likely hurt someone and be put down that way guaranteed.

Safety First! keep a close eye on them and keep them in a PROPER enclosure when outside, regardless of how 'sweet' they are in the house! Anyone who doesnt know these basic rules surely hasnt dealt with enough 'Pure Bred' pit bulls on a 'long term' basis. Unfortunately some of you who are new and naive to the Pit Bull game are in for a big shock...Hope this isnt the case.

Answer 7

My sister has a pit bull and he is very friendly people say pit bulls are bad just because a lot of things have happened in the past.. if you treat the pit bull with love and care it will be friendly but if you teach it 2 play rough something bad might happen. Lab bit half of a woman's face this year while she was smoking and she had a face implant!! it's not always pit bulls.

Answer 8

It's not just Pit Bulls, but when was the last time you heard of a Poodle mauling a child to death???
The breed that leads Dog Bites in the US is the German Shepard, although that may be due to them being used by Police Departments.

Answer 9

The media is one problem.

Ignorant people who don't even know how to identify a breed are another. Not all "pitbull" attacks were even from a pitbull...people just automatically label a dog a "pitbull" if it aggresses.

Because pitbulls look "tough," criminals like them. Sadly, these people breed dogs to be human aggressive, which is not standard for the breed. These were never bred to be human aggressive, and those that showed aggression were killed. and never bred.

Many people think that to train a pitbull, you have to beat them and treat them bad. This is stupid and dangerous.

Because of the media, and ignorance, pitbulls are targeted for cruelty, teased, tortured, and taunted. Any dog, regardless of breed, will snap and bite some one due to this treatment. They start to fear and dislike people, and that becomes a big problem.

Thank you for sharing those statistics...I hope others will see that pitbulls are not as "dangerous" as the media makes them out to be.

http://www.libertydogtraining.com

Answer 10

Pit bulls are dogs who are usually bought by people for entertainment, not as a pet. When they don't want the dog around they simply ignore the dog. Being ignored is not number one on a dog's list. When the dog gets angry it will attack a human. This, as you said, does not happen all that often, but is still sad.